NEW DELHI: Indian families are investing heavily in their children's education and spending more on healthcare at the expense of basic needs like food, reveals a recent NSSO survey report on spending patterns of households.

Between 1999 and 2009, expenditure on food increased by about 70% among rural families and 78% among urban ones. But the spending on education jumped up by as much as 378% in rural areas and 345% in urban areas.

Even after correcting for inflation, the expenditure on education increased by a phenomenal 162% in rural areas and 148% in urban areas during the decade. Compare this to the overall household expenditure on all items, which increased by a mere 8% in rural areas and 20% in urban areas after adjusting for inflation.

And, it is not just the same people who are spending more on their children's education. In 2004-05, when the previous such survey was carried out, 40% of rural and 57% of urban families said that they were spending on education. The latest survey records a big jump in these numbers - 63% of rural and 73% of urban families were getting their children educated.

Expenditure on health too has shown a considerable increase though not as much as education. At current pssrices, spending on medical care in hospitals increased by 152% in rural areas and by 136% in urban areas. The corresponding figures after adjusting for inflation are 38% and 31%. Spending on non-institutional medical care - medicines, tests, fees etc - jumped up by 60% in rural areas and 102% in urban areas. After adjusting for inflation, this works out to a decline of about 12% in rural areas - possibly an effect of the National Rural Health Mission - and a modest increase of 12% in urban areas.

As in the case of education, the increase in the proportion of families accessing institutional facilities is remarkable. From a minute 1.3% of rural and 1.5% of urban families getting institutional care in 2004-05, the proportions have risen 10-fold to 13% in rural and 14% in urban areas. The proportion of families reporting non-institutional spending remains at about two-thirds of the total.

The 66th round of NSSO's survey, carried out between July 2009 and June 2010 covered 2,01,649 households. Only key data has been released this month and detailed reports covering various aspects of India's family economics will come out over the year.

yeah, education was one business that didnt see any slowing down in india even as others sectors were struggling with the global economy struggling, on the contrary this sector was surging ahead the usual pace, speaks volumes on the amount indians spend on education of their kids.

Education is the biggest investment of Indian people which they do for their children.But its their tyranny that the educational institutes are making them fool by their false promises and charging huge fees and not giving them jobs after completion of their degrees